Targeting breast cancer vaccines to dendritic cells: improved immunological responses with less protein?

The central goal of cancer immunotherapy is to control tumors through the mobilization of the patient's immune system. Vaccines targeting the Her2/neu proto-oncogene have been tested with some early encouraging responses in breast cancer. However, a more effective set of vaccines targeting specific immune cell subtypes may provide a more potent means to stimulate anti-tumor immunity. Dendritic cell-specific antibodies fused with the Her2/neu protein proved effective at generating immune responses in preclinical models. Importantly, only low amounts of protein vaccine were required to generate this response, which has potentially significant implications for the future clinical development of Her2/neu-targeted vaccines and other vaccine targets.